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People's Republic of Tihsonia
|+'Folkerepublikken Tihsonia' (Danish) Volksrepublik Tihsonia(German) |- |colspan=2 | |- |'National anthem' || ''(Die) Internationale'' |- |colspan=2 | |- |'Official Languages' || Danish, German |- |'Other Languages' || South Jutlandic, Low German, Frisian |- |'Capital' || Poetz |- |'Government' || Socialist republic |- |'Head of State' || Anja Sörensen (26 Oct 1999) |- |'Area' - water || 39.4 km² negligible |- |'Population' - density || 25,431 (2003) 645/km² |- |'Independence' || November 17, 1918 (proclaimed) June 28, 1919 (recognized) |- |'Currency' || Danish krone (DKK), Euro (EUR) |- |'GDP' - per capita || $1.28 billion (2003) $50,332 |- |'Time zone' || CET |} The People's Republic of Tihsonia is a tiny European country, located on the island of the same name off the south-western coast of Jutland, right on the Danish/German border. It prides itself on being "the smallest socialist state in the world". Geography Situated in the Wadden Sea about 5 km off the current Danish/German border, the island of Tihsonia is almost completely flat and consists partly of marsh and partly fertile arable land, with small patches of forest on the north part of the island. A causeway, the Eimerdamm, connects Tihsonia to the Danish mainland. Tihsonia has only one town, Poetz, covering the entire south half of the island. History Pre-independence The island of Tihsonia was a part of the duchy of Schleswig probably from the creation of the duchy somtime during the Middle Ages. The first mention of the name Tihsonia is in a letter from the Danish king to the duke of Schlewsig dated on June 18, 1481, where the duke is granted the fishing and hunting rights for the island. Until 1864, Tihsonia lead a rather anonymous existence, with only a few handfuls of farmers and fishermen living on the island. After the German victory in the Second War of Schleswig, Tihsonia became a part of Prussia (and from 1871 the German Empire), an event that went largely unnoticed by the inhabitants. The 1918 Revolution Tihsonia continued to be more or less unaffected by world politics until World War I. In October and November 1918, the sailors revolted in Kiel, capital of the province of Schleswig-Holstein which Tihsonia was a part of. On November 9, a mere two days before the war ended, Karl Liebknecht proclaimed the socialist German republic in Berlin. The news of these events quickly reached Tihsonia, where a young soldier by the name of Bruno Eimer was inspired by the socialist ideas. He rallied up his fellow soldiers at the navy station in Poetz, stormed the garrison commander's office and took control of the station. The red flag was raised, the rest of the town was secured for the rebels, and on November 17 Eimer proclaimed the People's Republic of Tihsonia in the city square. Quickly a "Workers' and Soldiers' Council" (Arbejder- og soldaterråd; Arbeiter- und Soldatenrat) was established to take care of daily affairs. The leadership was formally in the hands of three people: Eimer, his fellow officer, captain Dietrich Stahl, and H. P. Petersen, editor of the local newspaper - with Eimer as the de facto head of state. These three quickly became known as the Tihsonian Troika. By now, news of the "Tihsonian Revolution" had spread to the mainland and was used as comic relief amongst all the sad stories of war and misery. Because of Tihsonia's diminutive size (with less than a thousand paople living on the island), nobody really took it seriously in the midst of the "real revolution". Urban legend has it that the German interim Prime Minister Friedrich Ebert, upon hearing of this news is said to have uttered the words: "Oh, let them!" International recognition If Tihsonia's claims to independence went largely unnoticed in war torn Germany, the did even more so in the rest of the world. However, First Secretary Eimer was determined to follow his initial idea through and sent H. P. Petersen to the peace negotiations at Versailles in 1919. Only acting as an observer, since Tihsonia had not taken part in the war and wasn't even recognized as an independent nation yet, Petersen nevertheless managed to win some supporters for the cause through his famed rhetorical skills. The exact circumstances have never been revealed, but the story goes that he talked one of the secretaries responsible for the final draft of the treaty into adding the secession of Tihsonia as a subparagraph. The late addition wasn't noticed by anyone until the treaty had been accepted and ratified, by which time it was too late to do anything about it without scrapping the whole treaty. In the early years, Tihsonia chose to take a neutral, noncommittal stand on international politics, instead focusing on internal affairs and building the ideal socialist society. Initially Eimer and his successor Petersen were very inspired by the Soviet model, but after Lenin's death the Tihsonian government distanced itself from the Stalin regime. When World War II broke out Tihsonia succeeded in maintaining its neutrality. In the last phase of the war, British troops used the naval station in Poetz as a strategic point in the liberation of Denmark. Newfound riches After the war Tihsonia saw a change in leadership. The last member of the old troika, Dietrich Stahl, died in 1955 and a new generation took charge. The economy was struggling, and the government was forced to keep the strong economical ties with Denmark that had persisted since 1920. In the early 60s, oil was found in the North Sea and the countries around the sea rushed to get the best piece of the pie. In 1969 an agreement was reached with help from the International Court of Justice. Tihsonia got only a tiny bit of water due to its diminutive size, but it turned out to be a very lucrative bit. Soon a very rich oilfield was found, and in 1971 the first oil was pumped from the underground. After the international oil crisis in 1973, Tihsonia started making substantial amounts of money exporting most of the oil, and the landscape changed forever. The capital of Poetz grew rapidly from a small fishing village to the thriving town that it is now. Tihsonia was truly a sovereign state, financially as well as politically. Liberal reforms Politics The People's Republic of Tihsonia is a socialist republic. Geography Economy Demographics Education Culture Military International relations Category:Nearly Real World Category:Tihsonia